During recent years, many individuals who previously did not own firearms of any type have felt the need to protect themselves in their homes or businesses against increasing crime. As a result, these individuals have obtained a firearm of some type to assist in their protection. However, one of the principal difficulties with having a firearm in a home is the desire that the firearm be disabled in order to prevent its accidental use or discharge.
In addition to the ever-increasing purchase of firearms by individuals for protection, the use of firearms as a sport has also increased, causing various different types of firearms to be purchased in ever-increasing numbers. As a result, many homes have substantially more than one firearm located therein. In these situations, the secure locking of the firearm is extremely important to prevent its accidental or unwanted use and prevent access by children.
In view of the desirability and importance of disabling or locking a firearm for safety purposes, various safety devices have been developed. However, these prior art safety devices are generally incapable of satisfying the needs of firearm owners due to the wide variety of sizes and shapes of guns in use.
Most safety devices are constructed to block the barrel of the firearm to prevent its use or disable the movement of the trigger to prevent release of the hammer. However, these devices are generally constructed for a particular type of firearm and are incapable of being used for all types of firearms. As a result, numerous different systems must be obtained if each of the firearms owned by an individual is to be disabled or locked for safety reasons.
A further problem found with prior art systems is the difficulty often encountered in their use. Many prior art systems are complex, requiring various manipulations by the user in order to effectively lock the firearm to prevent its unwanted access or use. Consequently, these systems are often not used, due to the complexity in attempting to implement their use.
A further problem found with prior art safety devices, which has been incapable of being satisfactorily eliminated, is the ability of the safety devices to be easily broken by an individual seeking to gain access to an otherwise secured or locked firearm. In this regard, many prior art devices used to prevent access or use of a firearm can easily be broken by an individual having additional tools available to open the blocking device. As a result, the actual efficacy of these prior art systems to prevent firearms from being used by unwanted personnel is easily thwarted.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a universal firearm disabling device which is capable of being quickly and easily installed in any firearm to prevent its unwanted use regardless of the type of firearm or its construction.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a universal firearm disabling device having the characteristic features described above which substantially prevents unwanted tampering of the firearm once the locking system has been activated.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a universally employable firearm disabling device having the characteristic features described above which incorporates alarm means automatically activated whenever the firearm is moved or is tampered with.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a universal firearm disabling system having the characteristic features described above which is incapable of being easily disassembled or removed while also causing unwanted activities to become immediately apparent.
Other and more specific objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.